2 pedestrians dead, 2 critical in North Seattle

The driver who police said killing two pedestrians and injured a young woman and her 10-day-old boy is being held on $2.5 million bail after a Tuesday afternoon court hearing.

Suspect Mark W. Mullan blew a .22 on a portable breath-alcohol test Monday and did not have an ignition interlock in his Chevy truck as required by his probation terms, prosecutors said. He also was driving without a valid license when police said he hit the pedestrians at Northeast 75th Street and 33rd Avenue Northeast.

“Mullan admitted to having one 1 1/2 ounce drink of Barcardi [sp] and 7-up this morning,” DUI squad officer Eric Michl wrote in his incident report, which noted the suspect smelled of alcohol. The officer said Mullan cooperated with all field sobriety tests and “showed impairment on all.”

Mullan claimed he was unable to see the victims due to the sun being in his eyes.

It was yet another alcohol-related case for Mullan, 50, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to a separate Seattle DUI case. He also was charged with hit-and-run in that incident, but that charge was dismissed as part of his negotiated plea, records show. Mullan had been in King County Jail from Dec. 27 until pleading guilty to the suspended sentence Jan. 7.

Mullan also had a second ongoing DUI case in Snohomish County. That began with an Oct. 8 incident, and he is alleged to have shown a blood alcohol level of .142 in that case. Records show he has been contacted by police in the same black Chevy truck police said he drove in Monday’s fatal incident.

Mullan, who is active with the North Seattle Baseball Association, waived his right to appear at the Tuesday court hearing. He has not been charged in Monday’s case and his public defender did not speak with reporters after the hearing. Charges in Monday’s case are expected by late Thursday.

A small memorial gathered Tuesday near where the victims were killed. They have been identified as Dennis Schulte, 66, and Judy Schulte, 68.

Neighbors said the couple had come from Indiana to spend time in Seattle with their son, grandson and daughter-in-law.

The 33-year-old mother, who is the victim’s daughter-in-law, suffered a crushed pelvis and has cranial bleeding, Judge Mark Chow was told during Mullan’s bail hearing. Both the mother and her young son were in critical condition Tuesday.

The double-fatality incident began about 4:10 p.m. Eckstein Middle School. Mullan’s Chevy truck was facing west on Northeast 75th Street, and police said the victims were struck while walking north on 33rd Avenue Northeast.

“When we arrived on scene, that infant was not breathing, so we initiated CPR and got the heartbeat back,” Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore said.

Lacia Bailey, who raises goats, lives on the same block as the young couple and their son and talking with the mother shortly before the accident.

“They petted and kissed the goat seconds before this happened, the same goat,” Bailey said Tuesday while carrying her eight-day-old goat, Truffle. “That’s what the mom and I were talking about because she had her baby in a carrier too. She was asking how old mine was – seven days last night. She said ‘Mine’s a few days older.’

“It was the lightest conversation.”

As the family walked away, Bailey continued speaking with some neighborhood kids.

“I looked up and black truck hit them and people went flying,” she said. “All four of them were laying separately on the ground. Blood coming out of their heads.”

Bailey said the black truck was going very fast, but didn’t think the problem was necessarily the intersection. Some neighbors thought more should be done to make Northeast 75th Street and the specific intersection safer. Previously, city officials have noted that’s a common reaction when there is a pedestrian collision at any intersection.

As police taped off the area Monday, several neighbors gathered and were stunned by the graphic scene.

“This is obviously a very tragic situation,” Seattle Police Deputy Chief Nick Metz said. “It’s not very normal that we have this level of folks who are victimized in this way.”

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn called the incident “shocking and tragic,” and said his thought were with the victims and their families.

Mullan was taken to Northwest Hospital where his blood was drawn as evidence. A DUI suspect’s blood can be taken even without the driver’s consent as a result of a 2005 case that was investigated by Michl, the same DUI specialist who arrested Mullan on Monday.

Seattle court records show Mullan also has a long history of other traffic infractions. In the summer of 1991, he was guilty of inattentive driving, he had a red light violation in 1997, was ticketed for speeding without a seat belt in 2001, had two other speeding tickets, and was driving without insurance when stopped for his DUI earlier this year.

This post, published Monday, was updated after Mullan’s Tuesday afternoon bail hearing.